769. Who keep the commandments of God.- That this signifies with those who live the life of faith, which is charity, is evident from the signification of keeping the commandments of God, as denoting to live according to the commandments of the Word; and as that life is a life of faith, and a life of faith is charity, therefore to keep the commandments of God signifies to live a life of faith, which is charity. A life of faith denotes charity towards the neighbour, because faith means the faith of the Word, thus the faith of truth in the Word and from the Word, while charity signifies the love for good and truth, spiritual, moral, and civil; and as that which a man loves he also wills, and what he wills this he does, therefore to keep the commandments of God signifies to live the life of faith, which is charity.

[2] From these things it is evident, that all those who separate faith from charity are entirely ignorant of the nature of both faith and charity; for their idea of faith is that it consists of all those matters contained in the memory which they accept because they have heard them from learned men. A faith of this kind, however, is merely traditional faith, for they do not see that a thing is so except from another, and what one sees only from another may be confirmed both from the sense of the letter of the Word misunderstood, and by reasonings from appearances and scientifics (scientifica), although it may be a falsity in direct opposition to the truth. When such a faith is confirmed it becomes a persuasive faith; but neither this nor traditional faith is a spiritual faith, nor consequently is it a saving faith, for such faith has as yet no life from the Lord. But that a man may receive this life he must live according to the Lord's commandments in the Word, for to live according to the commandments is the same thing as to live from the Lord, because the Lord is the Word and in the Word. Such a life is a life of faith, which is charity, and then its affection becomes charity, and thought from that affection becomes faith. For all man's thought derives its life from affection, for no one can think without affection; when therefore a man's affection becomes spiritual his thought also becomes spiritual; consequently, as is a man's charity, so is his faith. It is therefore evident that charity and faith act as one like affection and thought, or what is the same thing, like will and understanding; for affection belongs to the will, and thought to the understanding, consequently they make one in act, like good and truth. It is therefore plain that to live according to the Lord's commandments from the Word, or to keep the commandments of God, means to live a life of faith, which is charity.

27. Wisdom comes into being out of goodness by means of truth. How rationality is conceived and born in us: 2093, 2524, 2557, 3030, 5126. This is brought about by means of an inflow of the Lord through heaven into whatever spiritual and worldly knowledge ¹ we have, lifting us up as a result: 1895, 1899, 1900, 1901. This lifting up depends on the useful things we do ² and on our love of them: 3074, 3085, 3086. Our rationality is born by means of truths, so the nature of the truths determines the nature of our rationality: 2093, 2524, 2557. Our rationality is opened and given form by truths that arise from living a good life; it is closed and destroyed by falsities that arise from living an evil life: 3108, 5126. Our being able to argue that this or that is true does not mean we are rational; we are rational if we are able to see and perceive whether something is actually true or not: 1944. We are not born with any truth, because we are not born with any goodness; we need to learn and absorb everything: 3175. Because of the deceptiveness of our senses and the persuasiveness of falsity, which lead to rationalizations and doubts, we are barely able to accept genuine truths and then become wise: 3175. The beginning of our wisdom occurs when we start to turn our backs on rationalizations that deny what is true, and to cast aside our doubts: 3175. When our rational ability is not enlightened it scoffs at inner truths: 2654 (which includes examples). Our truths can properly be called inner truths only when they have been rooted in our lives, and not merely because we know about them, even though some truths that we know about might be said to be of a deeper kind: 10199.

[2] Within goodness there lies a capacity to grow in wisdom; if our lives have been devoted to doing what is good, we attain angelic wisdom after our departure from this world: 5527, 5859, 8321. Within every type of goodness countless other types of goodness lie hidden: 4005. From goodness countless things can be learned: 3612. How truth multiplies as a result of goodness: 5345, 5355, 5912. By means of truths and by means of living according to them, the goodness we have in early childhood becomes the goodness that belongs to wisdom: 3504.

[3] We can be moved by a desire for truth and we can be moved by a desire for goodness: 1904, 1997. What we are like when we are moved by a desire for truth and what we are like when we are moved by a desire for goodness: 2422, 2429. Which people can come to desire truth and which people cannot: 2689. All truths are arranged under some emotion that they have in common: 9094. In earthly-minded people a desire for truth and a desire for goodness are like brother and sister, while in spiritually minded people they are like husband and wife: 3160.

[4] Pure truths are not to be found in us or even in angels-only in the Lord: 3207, 7902. Any truths that we have are only apparently true: 2053, 2519. The first truths we have are things that seem to be true according to our deceptive senses; we gradually shed these as we increase in wisdom: 3131. If we are devoted to what is good, the things we think are true are accepted as real truths by the Lord: 2053, 3207. The substance and nature of things that seem to be truths: 3207, 3357-3362, 3368, 3404, 3405, 3417. Much of the literal meaning of the Word is adapted to suit the way things seem to people: 1838. The same truths can be more true for one individual, less true for another, and false for yet another because they have been distorted: 2439. By coordinating the impressions of our earthly self with those of our spiritual self, we can see whether the things we hold as true are actually true or not: 3128, 3138. How true our truths are varies depending on our ideas and concepts of them: 3470, 3804, 6917.

[5] When a truth has been joined to goodness it vanishes from our memory because it has become part of our life: 3108. Truths can be joined to goodness only in a state of freedom: 3158. Truths are joined to goodness by means of the crises of the spirit we go through: 3318, 4572, 7122. All goodness makes a constant effort to put truths in their place and to be restored by means of an inversion of its state: 3610. Truths become unpleasant when their connection with goodness is cut off: 8352. It is hard for us to tell the difference between truth and goodness because it is hard for us to tell the difference between thinking and willing: 9995. In the Word, what is good is called the brother ³ of what is true: 4267. From one point of view, whatever is good is called a lord and whatever is true is called a servant: 3409, 4267.

Voetnoten:

1198. 'From whom they came forth' means that cognitions, as these exist with them, are facts. This is clear from what has been stated. These are not said to have been 'begotten' by those who belonged to Egypt but to have 'gone forth', for they are not such as use natural and factual knowledge to reason about spiritual and celestial things and in so doing fabricate for themselves doctrinal teachings, as do those described before. Instead they learn cognitions of faith from another source, but have no other end in view to knowing and retaining these in the memory than they have with other things in which they have no interest beyond merely knowing them, and only then for the reason that by so knowing they may be promoted to positions of importance, and for other like reasons. So different is knowledge of cognitions of faith from knowledge of natural things that the two have scarcely anything in common. This explains why they are not said to have been 'bore' but to have 'gone forth' from them. Such being the character of 'Philistines' they inevitably pervert cognitions of faith by means of reasonings from them, and as a consequence fabricate false doctrines for themselves. They belong therefore among those who are barely able to be regenerated and to receive charity, both because they are uncircumcised at heart and because the false assumptions and consequently the life of their understanding hinder and prevent.